Professor examines age-restricted communities

YOUNGTOWN, Ariz. -- Today, there are hundreds of age-restricted communities around the country, but their history starts in the West Valley with the growth of Youngtown and Sun City.

Judith Ann Trolander, a history professor at the University of Minnesota, Duluth and author of "From Sun Cities to The Villages: A History of Active Adult, Age-Restricted Communities," delivered a lecture at the Fairway Branch Library last week on that same subject, with an emphasis on Del Webb's Sun City, Arizona.

"When I was teaching my students, I had to explain to them what an age-restricted community was," Trolander joked.

There are conflicting numbers about how many retirees are interested in living in age-restricted communities. Del Webb studies estimate it to be about 30 percent, while AARP studies show that the number is about 10 percent. Trolander said she thinks that number is probably squarely in the middle at about 20 percent.

"Americans tend to be workaholics, but you could justify a vacation if it was for your health," Trolander said, explaining the birth of such retirement and leisure communities.

This led to the popularity of mineral springs and health resorts, which were often in the Southern states, making the idea of "wintering" in the South trendy for many rich and famous names.

But the trend did filter down to the masses as the so-called "tin can tourists" flocked to areas around Tampa, Fla. to free campgrounds and trailer parks that encouraged those lower-income families to get involved in state societies, similar to the Sun City's own Wisconsin Club, or other similar groups.

In 1954, Ben Schleifer created Youngtown as an alternative to nursing homes, and there, the idea of a retirement community was born, Trolander said.

"He wanted to make Youngtown affordable," Trolander said of Schleifer, who built small homes ideal for retirees, and he banned children for the same reason that they are rarely allowed in nursing homes: Kids are too noisy.

Sun City was sparked into creation after Del Webb associates L.C. Jacobson and Tom Breen visited similar communities in Florida; James Boswell provided the Arizona land, and the project was off, starting with a golf course community concept.

"It was a pretty general concept of active retirement," Trolander said. The Del Webb community, which opened in 1960, added the amenities that Youngtown lacked -- elaborate recreation centers with activities like woodworking and other crafts, grassy medians, a shopping center and a motel.

Del Webb sold a "new way of life" to retirees, Trolander said, adding that he employed an extensive marketing program.

"It's something of an oxymoron," Trolander said of the active retirement idea.

Ross Cortese, a competitor to Del Webb, opened his Leisure World community in the Los Angeles area in 1961, although Trolander explained that it and the other Leisure Worlds to follow were different from Sun City since they were smaller, and often gated; Del Webb later expanded to open Sun City Center, Fla. and Sun City, Calif. in 1962, although they were later taken over by other developers.

Del Webb standardized the floor plans, community lay-outs, recreation centers, and even the street names to make each community more affordable, and Trolander pointed out that pictures of Sun City Center look very similar to Sun City, Ariz.

"The Sun City concept just keeps going and going," Trolander said.

While the Sun Cities and similar communities have had battles over school taxes and possible discrimination issues involved in having age-restricted communities, culminating in the Fair Housing Act of 1988, Trolander said the way to move forward for these communities is by continuing to adapt, and attract new retirees, like the Baby Boomer generation.